malvernmugadzikwa
Online Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has extended operating hours at Forbes Border Post from 6am to 10pm to clear long queues that have been building up since October 3 following an accident involving four trucks, which led to the temporary closure of an exit channel.
The lane has, however, since been cleared.
“From October 5 to 7, 2023, an average of 360 outbound trucks were cleared per day and on October 8 and 9, 2023, 592 and 656 outgoing trucks were cleared, respectively,” said Zimra.
Traffic is expected to return to normal by October 15.
The recent accident notwithstanding, Zimra also indicated that the “current border post infrastructure was not designed to handle high volumes of commercial traffic as there is hardly any parking space for commercial trucks”.
“This has overstretched the spatial capacity for handling the commercial traffic influx. Its location is within constricted terrain which requires significant civil engineering for expansion,” added Zimra.
“The narrow bridge on the Munene River between the Mozambican border and the Zimbabwe border (Forbes) on the Mozambican side only allows one truck to cross at a time and has a major bottleneck effect on traffic flows.”
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu